PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Bloomsburg women's basketball team survived a thrilling triple-overtime game against #6/#5 Jefferson for a 107-97 victory.

Katie Starr (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) led all players on the afternoon with 26 points, recording her seventh 20-point outing of the season and her fourth double-double with 14 rebounds to go with a career-high seven assists. Ella Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) and Maddie LaFrance (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) each notched career bests with 20 points apiece. Kale had her fourth game of the year with at least seven assists, while LaFrance knocked down a career-high six three-pointers.

The win against the Rams (9-1) marked the first victory over a ranked opponent since defeating #19 Edinboro, 70-62, on December 2, 2018. The Huskies move to 3-5 on the season.

How It Happened: 
Jefferson controlled the opening portion of Saturday's contest, jumping out to an early 8-3 lead through the first 3:30. LaFrance kept Bloomsburg in the game with its first eight points to cut the deficit to 10-8. The Rams began to pull away, capturing an 11-point edge throughout the first. Trading baskets, a three from Ava Stevenson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) made it a 27-21 contest after one. LaFrance led all players through the first with 11 points.

The two sides continued to trade blows, unwilling to give each other an advantage. LaFrance knocked down another pair of threes to extend her game-high at the time to 17 points. Several members of the Huskies, including E. Kale, helped keep the game under 10 heading into halftime with a score of 43-36.

Plagued by slow starts to the second half, Bloomsburg came out on fire in the third quarter while keeping the Rams in check. Despite going 0-for-5 from three, the Huskies held Jefferson to 4-of-19 shooting (21.1 percent) from the field in the third. Bloomsburg began the third on a 12-0 scoring run to capture its first lead. E. Kale and Starr combined for 12 of the Huskies' first 14 points of the second half to claim a 50-45 advantage. The scoring went cold for the next few minutes before Jefferson rallied to reclaim a 56-52 lead going into the fourth. 

With the game on the line, Bloomsburg continued to flex its scoring muscles, going 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from the floor in the fourth compared to 38.5 percent from the Rams to force overtime. Starr emerged when it mattered most, dropping nine points in the fourth quarter with three offensive rebounds. With 51 seconds remaining in regulation, the Huskies faced a six-point deficit. After Starr and E. Kale made it a one-possession, Leah Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) knocked down the clutch mid-range jumper to force overtime at 72-72.

The overtime scrambles between the teams proved to be sequences of runs, with both sides having opportunities to put away the game. Bloomsburg grabbed a four-point lead halfway through the first overtime period before Jefferson reclaimed a three-point advantage with 1:00 to play. It would be Stevenson who knocked down an ever-important triple off a pump fake to tie the contest at 81-81 and into double OT after the Rams missed a last-second shot. 

In the second overtime, Jefferson jumped out to the early lead but had to rally late. After falling behind due to a 6-0 run for the home side, Starr and Stevenson combined for nine points to give the Huskies a three-point lead with eight seconds remaining. The second overtime ended in a bit of controversy as the horn went off from a Jefferson inbound that would have been intercepted by Bloomsburg, instead leading to a replay of the possession in which the Rams got off a shot that looked to toe the line but was counted as a three to force the third overtime. 

In the end, the Huskies remained aggressive on both ends to take down the top-10 Rams. Hailey Hudak (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring Ford) scored six of her eight points in the third OT period as the Kale sisters combined for nine points to capture the double-digit upset. 

Five Huskies finished Saturday's game in double figures as the team recorded a season-high 27 assists. Four different players for Bloomsburg ended the game with multiple steals. 

On the Horizon:
The Huskies return to conference play on Monday, December 18, at 5:30 p.m. for a PSAC matchup on the road against Pitt-Johnstown.